Rush-hour commuters faced a busy start to the New Year working week as roads were jammed and Metros delayed.

A technical problem on Tyne and Wear Metro caused delays of up to 30 minutes on services between Newcastle Airport and South Hylton. The St James’ to South Shields line was also affected on Monday morning.

On the roads, traffic soon built up as motorists left the house early to beat the rush.

Many people returned to work on Monday, with the majority of schools also re-opening.

The Tyne Bridge, Gateshead Highway and Felling Bypass all became gridlocked as traffic queued back to Gateshead Stadium .

Traffic heading in from the North and West of Newcastle also stalled around the city’s pinch points - Cowgate Roundabout, the Great North Road and the Central Motorway.

Motorists travelling into the city along the Coast Road noticed fewer delays but traffic levels were still heavy.

No major incidents were reported on the roads and the queues were due to a sheer volume of traffic on the first morning back to work for many across the region.

A Metro spokesman said: “There was a cable fault at the South Gosforth depot which meant we could not get the trains out as fast as normal in the mornings. Delays were resolved at just after 7am.”

A separate incident at Haymaket also caused delays.

The spokesman added: “A passenger on a train at Haymarket received treatment by paramedics so trains were not running through that station until an ambulance had attended and we could get the person off the train.

“We are sorry for any passengers who experienced delays.”

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